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Looking through my calendar of national observances, it appears that October is turning into “food month,” beginning with World Vegetarian Day and World Day for Farm Animals on Oct. 1 and 2, continuing with National School Lunch Week Oct. 14-18 and World Food Day on Oct. 16, and culminating with Food Day on Oct. 24.

I am old enough to remember the 1970s when we tied yellow ribbons around a maple tree in my front yard to welcome hostages home. We still tie ribbons to trees and around our fingers to remember things, to keep them close to our heart and to provide a hopeful reminder of something painful that we’ve endured. Ribbons represent being united with those we love.

Today, for most residents of Columbia County, former resident, war hero and politician William Few is little more than a name on a road sign that bisects the county between Washington Road and I-20. The county owes a huge debt to this extraordinary man, because without him it might not exist.

The small Maryland and North Carolina communities where Few was raised offered little to support a family, and almost no opportunity for an education. So in 1773, when 2 million acres of Indian land became available in Georgia, the Fews migrated south.

My middle son gave up riding a bike during his elementary-school years because of the discomfort of pedaling with nothing between his jeans and his personals. During this brief but unfortunate childhood phase, he swore off boxers and briefs. He refused to go to the trouble of pulling on a barrier between himself, his zipper and disaster. Not since then have undergarments weighed so heavily on my mind.

ATLANTA — Georgia was the first state to prohibit the execution of a mentally retarded person, but advocates for the disabled say the state is now lagging behind American society and needs to change its law.

These advocates are on a monthlong campaign to raise awareness of the issue and mobilize public opinion and legislators. They also prefer the term “intellectual disabilities” to the law’s phrase because they don’t like the connotations associated with “retarded.” Of course, they run the risk that folks won’t know what they’re talking about.

You have to hand it to Gov. Nathan Deal; he is a real problem solver. Last year, the problem was state Sen. Chip Rogers, who had been an opponent of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and an impediment to Deal’s legislative plans.

Almost magically, a new job and a $150,000 salary materialized at Georgia Public Broadcasting, during a year of budget cuts and austerity measures. Rogers suddenly became the second highest paid person at GPB, and just like that, he was no longer blocking anything on the Senate floor.

When you are governor of Georgia. you learn an essential lesson: sometimes it’s necessary to go to war with the Atlanta media. It’s a long-established tradition in state politics.

This was certainly true back in the 1930s and 1940s when Gene Talmadge was running for governor (and most of the time winning).

When Talmadge would travel to some small town to make a campaign appearance, he made sure to plant some of his supporters in the crowd so that they could call out reminders to him at key points during his speech.